Vehicle door construction



M 1! R 2 Q a sh 9 Y A. L. LAMBERT VEHICLE DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 1923 VNTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 8, 1927..

ALBERT L. LAMBERT, 01E NARBERTH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNQR 'ilQ EEINTZ MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF'IPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A.

TPENNSYLVANIA.

VEHICLE DOOR EONSTR'UCTIUN.

Application filed September 15, 1923. Serial No. 662,803

This invention relates to doors for auto mobile bodies, and more particularly relates to sheet metal doors.

jects of my invention will be in part ob vious and in part pointed out hereinafter. The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinaiter set forth and the scope-of the ap plication of which will be indicated in the followin claims.

In or or that a clearer understanding of my invention may be had, attention is here by directed to the accompan ing drawings forming a part of this application and illustrating certain possible embodiments of my invention. Tteferrin to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a rear plan View of a door em-- bodying my invention, a portion of the upholstery ad being broken away; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the door and is taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the door and is taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4- is a horizontal sectional view of a flush type door embodying my invention; and Fig. 5 is. a vertical sectional view of the lower por tion of the door and is taken on the line 5-5 oi Fig. 4. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. Referring to the drawings, the body of the door of the overlapping type, as shown. in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, comprises a sheet metal pan portion 1 and a sheet metal cover or outerpanel 2. The pan portion 1 has a major portion forming the rear of the door body and a forwardly extending bottom flange 3 which ends in a downwardly extending flange 4 adapted to be received and tightly secured in the fold or doubled-over portion 5 provided along the lower edge of the outer panel 2. The-pan portion 1 at each side is provided with forwardly extending flanges 6 and 7 having outwardly turned edges 6 and 7' respectively seated and securely held in the folded or doubleover portions 8 and 9 formed along the side edges of the outer panel 2. The flange 6 at the opening side of'the door is preferably stepped or otherwise suitably contoured according to the shape of the adjacent door jamb portion 10 of the vehicle body 11. At the hinge side the flange 7 may be straight. An angle iron reeniorcing strip 12 is pref- CQORATION OF erably located on the interior of pan por-- tion 1 so as to abut theiiange 7 and the adjacent portion of the rear of the pan so as to reeniorce the constnuction. This side of the door has secured thereto, as by means of screws 13, a hinge 14: of conventional type which is also secured to the adjacent jamb portion 15 of the vehicle body 11. The

portions 5, 8 and 9 in a door of this type are preferably arranged to overlap the body 11 at the bottom and sides of the door opening. At the top of the door the portion 1 ends in a rearwardly overhanging flange 16 and the top of panel 2 is extended rear wardly over the top of the door and ends in a similar overhanging flange 17 which fits over the flange 16. These flanges preferably are secured together by .welding The depression 18 created by providing these overhanging flan es provides room for the insertion of an e ectr1c welding tool. to eflect the welding operation without its showing on the visible surface of the fiange 1?. Along the lower edge of portionv 1 there is welded a strip 19 which has an up wardly opening groove 20 along its lower edge. This construction permits apad 21 of cardboard or buckram to have its lower edge seated in the groove 20, and its upper groove seated in the recess 18 whereby the pad is held in place on the door. The pad of such material is suciently flexible, so

shown on dot and dash'lines in Fig. 2, as at 21, its upper and lower edges may be snapped into the retaining grooves 18 and 20. Preferably the portion 1 is provided with suitable ofl'set portions, such as 23 and 24, which locate and reenforce the pad 21. The portion 1' is also preferably formed with a sunken panel portion, such as 25, or a cutout portion 26, providing a pocket in the door. 21 may have a similar The 2pad cutout portion which, if present, is preferably covered by a liftable cover 28 ,which is suitably secured along top 29 to the pad 21. g Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that a door of the flush type may be con.- structed in a manner substantially similar to the construction of a door of the overlapping type. In this type of-door,'however, instead of extending the bottom and side edges of the pan portion and outer panel of the door I so as to overlap the bottom an'dsides of the door opening, these flanges are omitted. For instance, the bottom flange 30 of the pan ortions 1' ends within the doorway and t center panel 2 has an inwardly ex-' tending bottom flange 31 which overlaps secured together, asv b flange and is pre erably secured thereto by welding or the like. Similarly, the side flange 32 of pan 1' at the opening side is overlap by inwardly extending flange 33 provided on the adjacent edge of outer panel 5 2, and these flanges are preferably welding. At the hinge side of the door t e ed e of pan portion 1' has a foldedor double -over portion 7 34 endin in a forwardly extending bead 35, and t e corresponding ed e of the outer panel 2' has a folded or dou led-over ortion 36 endin in a rearwardly exten ing bead-37. A -shaped reenforcmg strip 38 forms a part of the door along this edge. Thewall 39 of strip 38 is'exposedalon the side of the door, and one wall 40 0 the strip abuts'behind and is secured, as by welding, to the doubled-over portion 36 of the outer panel 2, while the'other wall 41 of member 38 abuts and .is secured, as

i by weldin ,to the double portion 34 of pan portion This construction permits of the weldin of channel member 38 to the outer pane 2'- without showing welding marks on the outside of panel 2', since the weldin operation need not be extended more t an will be sufiicient to. join the wall 40 to the inner fold of double ortion 36. The channel member 38 prefera ly is suitably recessed, as at 42, to receive the beads 35 and 37. The hinge 14 may be secured to I the door by means of screws 13 which englage in suitable threaded perforations in t e doubled lpgrtion 34 and the wall 41 of channel mem r 38. With this type of'door the bottom of the doorway 11 is preferably step as at 43 ,and the bottom wall 30 of t e door is of correspondingly stepped formation. The remainder of the construction is similar to that described and shown in connectionwith the overlapping type of door. 7 v

In either type of door the pad 21 of n holstery in ad tion to being secured to t 0 door by means'of retainin grooves 18 and 20, may be further secured y means of 118.118.

21, and which also 44 which cage the v e d'wi slots 45 proTided are tightly limiting sense.

at suitable points in the pan portion 1 or 1' of the door. Nails are used which are larger in diameter than the width of the slots 45, so that when a nail is driven into.

a slot, the-edges of the slot will be flexed and will be pinched against the nail, and whereby the nail will be securely held in the slot. This method of nailing is described and claimed in an application filed by me on even date herewith, Serial No. 662,802.

Among the advantages obtained from the i above construction of door is that the overhanging flanges 16 and 17 prevent rain from going behind the upholstery. These flanges also shield the upholstery from wear from a persons hand or otherwise. The construction eliminates the necessity of using nails acrossthe top or bottom of the door.

By inserting the upholstery pad in the man- As many changes could be made in the 1 above construction and as many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accofifianying drawings shall be interpreted as iistrative and not in a What I claim is:--'-

1. Ina door of the character described, in combination, a rear panel having alon its upper edge an overhanging flange space rearwardly of the panel, a front panel member having a portion extendin rearwardly over the top of the door an having an overhanging flan e fitting over the overhanging flange 0 said rear panel, an u holstery pad on the rear of the door, t e up or edge of said pad being seated behind an overlapped by said overhanging flanges, and an ofi'set formed on the rear panel seating against said pad and locating the top edge of the pad closely against said overhanging flanges.

2. In a door of the character described, in combination, a rear panel portion having forwardly extending flanges along its bottom and each side and a rearwardly overiao 3. In a door of the character described, in combination, a rear panel portion having forwardly extending flanges along its bottom. and each side and a rearwardly overhanging flange along its top edge, a front panel portion having flanges along its bottom and each side connected with the said bottom and side flanges of said panel portion and having along its top a flange extending rearwardly over the top of the door;

panel portion having flanges along its bottom and each side connected with the said bottom and side flanges of said panel portion and having along its top a flange extending rearwardly over the top of the door and overlapping and secured to the overhanging flange at the top of said panel portion, an upwardly open channel alon the 80 lower ed of the door, and an n he stery pad having its bottom edge seate in said channel and its top ed seated behind said overhanging flange, sai panel having an offset portion adjacent said overhanging flange,

whereby the upholstery'pad is held tightly against said flange.

5. In a door of the character described, in combination, a rear anel portion having forwardly extending anges along its bottom and each side anda rearwardly overhanging flange along'its top edge, a front panel portion having flanges along its bottom and each side connected with the said bottom and. side flanges of said panel portion and having along its top a flange extending rearwardly over the top of the door and overlapping and secured to the overhanging flange at the top of said panel portion, said panel having narrow slots enlarged at the ends, whereby the sides of said slots are rendered resilient, an upholstery pad positioned against said panel, and nails engaging said pad and penetrating said slots and securing the pad to the panel.

This specification signed this 11th day of September, 1923.

ALBERT L. LAMBERT. 

